3.75

You know, they say "Comparision is the thief of joy" and it is so true for this book. Had this been the first book, I would have LOVED IT. I mean, don't get me wrong, I still really liked it, but in comparison to Sky in the Deep? It was a little lackluster.

Let's get the most important thing out in the front here, THIS BOOKS FOLLOWS SWEET BABY HALVARD!!!! Yep, that's mainly what you need to know. Oh, and it's set 10-13 years in the future (the timeline jumps a lot giving flashbacks so I can't remember exact numbers) so our baby boy is now a man!

I really enjoyed Tova's character and getting to see bits and pieces of our friends from the first book. That was all great. The characters are really well done and I think that's definitely one of Young's strong suits.

For me, where this one fell off track is the pacing and the plot. I felt like I was a third of the way through the book before I ever really got to a plot starting to form, but also at that point, I already had figured out how everything was going to end so??? It was just strange pacing and the plot was pretty basic.

And you know, for a book with a lot of blood and death and fighting, the end was pretty anti-climactic. I don't feel like there were any surprises or big reveals or any "wow" moments.

That all being said, I think if you enjoyed Sky In The Deep, you'll also enjoy this one. It's not a bad book by any means, it just pales in comparison to its predecessor.

Cover - 5; Characters - 5; Pace - 3; Plot - 3; Writing - 4; Enjoyment 3.

** Side note, I did get a review ARC of this book but didn't read it until after it's release and I'd already purchased my own copy. =)

I almost feel like I should have two different ratings, one for the first half and one for the second. They were drastically different. I think Young really shines when writing action scenes, it's a shame we had to wait so long for anything to really happen. The first 50-60% of this was rather uneventful but the battle in the last half was EPIC. I only wish there was more of that throughout the rest. It felt like a lot to wait that long for the payoff, which inevitably felt kind of abrupt after such a long wait.

The first time I heard about this book was the beginning of the year. It was in multiple book groups that I'm in, that started commenting on it. With a little bit of research, I learned, that while no characters from Sky in the Deep come in, they are still connected. So I decided to read Sky in the Deep first. I love that Sky in the Deep and The Girl the Sea Gave Back are two different books. They are connected by the world, but they don't have to be read together. I love that!

I loved the book. It had some amazing characters, world building, and character development! So I came into this book with high standards. I was so impressed by Young's writing in both books, that I was hooked on it. The story, the originality of a subject that I wasn't sure I would like was awe inspiring.

The pacing of The Girl the Sea Gave Back was slow. That is why it's getting 3 stars from me. It could have been a shorter book. I also wasn't as connected to this book as I was the first one. I am looking forward to more books that Young writes! Her writing is phenomenal, and I'm looking forward to reading Fable when that comes out as well.

This magical book was one of my favorite books in this genere hands down! Magic, love and a tear jerker at times Im left in awe of this authors writing. I read this as a standalone and would recommend to read in order but i really did enjoy it !Tovas story was addicting! Definatly going to get the first book!! Loved this!!!!

Sky in the Deep was hands down one of my favorite reads of 2018. The moment I heard there was going to be a spin off, I was excited for it. Especially when I got wind that a few old characters might make an appearance. But The Girl the Sea Gave Back left me feeling rather disappointed. It wasn’t as magical as I had hoped it to be.

There was just something about Tova and Halvard that I couldn’t connect with. Their stories were okay, not amazing but just okay. I think both characters could have benefitted more if they had more personality. The one aspect I did love was seeing Eelyn and Fiske again.

I think my biggest problem was I expected it to be just as wonderful as Sky in the Deep and the moment I realized it wasn’t, I felt let down. So my recommendation to you is to don’t do what I did. Look at this as more of a standalone and not a continuation. I think if you do that, you can find it to be a pretty epic story.

I thought the first companion novel to this was ok and honestly kind of boring so I am not surprised I did not enjoy this one. I think I wanted to give it a chance because it was different from the first but it was just lackluster.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I could not get into this book. It was confusing at times, I didn't really know what I was reading. The cover is absolutely beautiful but the story itself did not draw me in like I wanted it to. It drug on a little longer than I was patient for.


I was given an ARC from Netgalley in return for my honest review.

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

This was better then "Sky in the Deep". I actually finished this book. I wasn't enthusiastic however. It just didn't grab me. The main character in this story seems more real to me. The struggle was relatable even if only abstractly. Unless something drastically changes however i do not see myself reading another of this authors books.

This book was hard for me to get into. Very boring, not horrible but bland. I just couldn't connect to the characters. I think the beginning should be more attention grabbing to make readers want to read the rest of the book.

This vikings-inspired fantasy novel is a companion to THE SKY IN THE DEEP, which I read last year and enjoyed. THE GIRL THE SEA GAVE BACK is set 10 years after THE SKY IN THE DEEP, and follows a clan called the Svell who find themselves facing war with the now-joined clans from the first novel.
Overall, I found this book just okay. I found all of the names difficult to keep straight-character names and clan names ran together for me. There were just so many of them, and I found it pretty confusing throughout. The plot was quick and fun to read, but it was resolved a little too quickly for me. I think this could have benefited from another 30-4o pages of plot and resolution.
If you loved THE SKY IN THE DEEP, you'll probably love these as well!

I really wanted to enjoy this sequel, but I found it lacking in a way I can't describe. The plot fell flat for me after loving the first book so much .

I was so excited to get back into this world but did not like it as much as Sky in the Deep. I still loved this world and the descriptions of this world and it's people are done so beautifully! I would have liked to seen more of our old tribe and hear more about their transition into their new surroundings and joining together of their tribes! The ending was satisfying yet left me with questions so I'm hoping it was setting us up for another book?

4.5/5 🦄
The Girl the Sea Gave Back
By Adrienne Young

Wow! This book was riveting! Tova is a Kyrr girl who washes ashore in a new land and is hated by the people she lives with—but they keep her around because she is a truthspeaker, a person who can read stones to tell the future. Halvard is the future chieftain of his tribe, the Nadhir—a new tribe formed of two formerly blood-feuding peoples. Their fates become intertwined as the Svell, Tova’s keepers, decide to decimate the Nadhir, their neighbors.

This book was an amazing mix of romance and fantasy action. It has flashback chapters which I normally don’t like very much but I loved in this story because it gave you more background information. You basically figure things out as the main characters do because of how it is organized. The romance part is very subtle—it’s just a feeling of interconnectedness for the most part and only the suggestion of romance really. But it works really well and it’s a very fast read—the pacing is good too, which can be an issue for fast reads. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes stories about fate and rival clans. It has a cool Vikings vibe and lots of interesting names (which you may hate or love). But a solid read overall and the audiobook is good too since I split time listening and reading. Maybe keep a tissue handy is you get a bit teary eyed while reading sad parts like me. 😉

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher as well as a final copy from BOTM YA and borrowed the audiobook from my local library (I like my options) and none of that altered my review from thinking this book was awesome.

(review on Goodreads, will be featured on instagram @inkstains.and.dust and the corresponding facebook of the same name and twitter (@InkstainsD)

Having previously read Adriennes previous novel Sky In The Deep, I knew I had to read this one. Like with her last book I really enjoyed `the world she build and the use of mythology and culture. I really liked the main character and the journey she had to take. I do wish that the author spent a little more time explaining certain things and maybe fleshed our the characters more but besides that I enjoyed it.

I had a few issues with this book, in terms of the plot and how it was formatted.

One of the main reasons I liked Sky in the Deep was because the perspective was in third person, but it wasn’t complicated by the crutch authors often use along with that.

Let me explain.

Usually a third-person perspective will mean that the narration can switch between multiple characters, giving the author more freedom to explore different characters and plots because they are not tethered to the main perspective. The Girl the Sea Gave Back did the opposite, and ended up leaning on that crutch. Most chapters alternated between Halvard and Tova’s perspectives, with random interjections of flash-back chapters that were confusing and felt oddly placed. I felt like Young was info-dumping a bit with the flashbacks when that information could have been weaved in without random, arbitrary flashbacks.

Side note: I just noticed that the Goodreads synopsis does not mention Halvard’s name once, and he is one of the main perspectives we follow…. Why?

Anyway, back to the book itself.

I would say the plot points of this book relied a lot on what happened in the prequel, because it was constantly recalling the past wars with the Aska and Riki, as well as the legendary Herja attacks that brought peace to the warring clans ten years before this book picks up. I didn’t find it weird that there was a decade between the two settings, I think that worked well enough, but I just felt like nothing new was happening. There’s only so many new and surprising things that can happen in Viking wars. Even when some characters died, I wasn’t as surprised and empathetic as I was while reading Sky in the Deep.

Bouncing between two perspectives was also fine, it’s just that I personally don’t like when chapters are separated clearly between different characters, but it remains in third-person narration anyways. I didn’t feel connected to the characters at all because I wasn’t ever inside of their heads. I couldn’t feel their emotions as well as I could even during the first book where the perspective was in third-person but only followed one character. I know all of that sounds very confusing, but I think those who agree with my opinions on multiple perspectives will understand (hopefully anyways!).

While I can appreciate that romance was not a main part of the plot in this book, it did feel like the lack of romance made the book less interesting for me. Maybe that’s a subconscious realization that I rely on romance to be interested in a book… But I don’t know. I felt like the distance between Tova and Halvard and the magic that was introduced didn’t connect well enough. When they finally do cross paths, the romance was clumsy and forced. It didn’t have enough time to develop, and therefore fell flat. In fact, the whole ending felt rushed to me. The book was battle after battle, and then there was only about 50 pages left for the resolution and wrap up all the smaller storylines, which is not enough.

Now, I did give this book 3 stars despite crapping all over pretty much every aspect of the plot and style. Why you ask? Because, with as many problems as I had with this book, I couldn’t put it down. Young’s writing itself is compelling, and there’s definitely a lot of plot action happening to keep your eyes reading down the pages.

I didn’t love this book, obviously, but I didn’t hate it either. I was definitely expecting better, having read Sky in the Deep first and given it 4 stars, but I couldn’t find the same level of excitement about this one.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of “The Girl the Sea Gave Back” by Adrienne Young. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I believe this is meant to be a standalone. I have ‘Sky in the Deep’ on my TBR, but didn’t get to pick it up before I was approved for this title. I guess that was a mistake since I believe this book spoils events in ‘Sky in the Deep.’ When I started reading ‘The Girl the Sea Gave Back,’ I immediately felt like I was missing information having not read the first book.

Anyways, ‘The Girl the Sea Gave Back’ has an intriguing title and a stunning cover. The story follows Tova and Halvard who are Vikings. Unfortunately I couldn’t connect with the story. It didn’t feel accessible to me like some other Viking fantasy books I’ve read in the past. Since I felt lost about the context that maybe the previous book could have provided, I couldn’t connect with the story in a way that kept me turning the pages. I’ve tried multiple times to push through, but I have to mark this one a DNF. I might pick it up again through my library but I did not finish the book in the time frame I had access to it.

A fan of Sky in the Deep, I was really excited to read The Girl the Sea Gave Back and I was not disappointed. Just like Sky in the Deep, The Girl the Sea Gave Back features fierce women and an exciting plot. I was also really sucked into the world - Young's worldbuilding really captured me. Although at times some characters felt a little surface-level, the book had a great plot and I was hooked all the way through.

One of the things I enjoyed immensely about Sky in the Deep was that it was a standalone book. As much as I love series, good standalones are treasured finds, so I was really happy that this wasn't a sequel, but it was still set in the same world.

There didn't seem to be a lot of world building for this story. It wasn't really anything that relied on the first book, but I'll admit it was a bit difficult to get into at first. A lot the history unfolded through the story as the main character, Tova, found out about things herself, which was an interesting choice. I liked that it was more real time for finding things out, but I feel like a little bit more background might've been helpful in having it less confusing.

I enjoyed that it was mostly a story about finding a place in the world. There was a very slight element of fated romance, but it was faint and towards the very end. I like that it wasn't one of the big strings that tied the two main characters together.

Adrienne really has a gift for her writing flow poetically. Her settings really work well because the people whom she writes about trust in nature and are people of the Earth. They take from it, but also give thanks. You can see a lot of Adrienne's personality through her writing. I get the sense of mindfulness and being at peace with her surroundings. I think that's one of the reasons why I enjoy reading her books so much. They bring me to a tranquil place.

I gave this book a solid 4 stars.

This one was so much better through audiobook than physical reading. I began reading this story with literally no idea of what it was about except that it was super hyped and the publishers were total gems and approved my wish that I made for it during my trigger happy ARC binge earlier this year. Told through dual points of view, the story took off at the inciting incident, and captivates you–however, things slow down significantly. I really planned on DNFing it, because of how slow the pacing got and I was constantly getting sucked out of it. However, I borrowed the audiobook for it from my local library and decided to give it once last chance during a solo road trip.

Needless to say, I am really happy I switched formats. The audio grips you in the slow pace and brings a different tonality and intensity to the story that I was craving before. The characters began to form and became more in depth and I fell head over heals in love with this world and our main characters as they found their place within their people and came together in this beautiful immersion that left me gripping my steering wheel and grinning from ear to ear.